January 2016

Tiny houses are getting a big break from the city of Fresno. Now, other communities across the country are interested. The pint-sized houses on wheels – complete with kitchen, living room and loft – are now considered backyard cottages thanks to changes in the city’s zoning and development code. That means tiny homes can be used as independent living quarters on the same lot as a single-family house granted it meets some requirements. Previously, the mobile units could only...

By implementing a “rapid rehousing” policy, hundreds of communities around the U.S. are moving from blaming, shaming and punishing the homeless, to understanding, nurturing and providing homeless people a safe place to recover and heal. In California, Orange County is changing its policy from putting people in temporary shelters to providing them permanent subsidized housing. So is Los Angeles — where 25,000 people are homeless. Instead of trying to force people who are...

A pilot program employed since September has prompted 80 percent of drug offenders to seek treatment. Before the pilot program, drug abusers had no incentive to get treatment, said Steve Wright, assistant district attorney. Supervisors voted 5-0 to pass the funding plan for a new drug court that emphasizes treatment instead of confinement. The program will save the county money over the long run: Confinement is expensive, and successful treatment will prevent crime, resulting in savings in...

The lowest of 31 grades issued in the  2016 California Children's Report Card released on Wednesday was for dealing with the effects of childhood trauma. In Children Now's biennial assessment of the status of California kids, researchers gave the state a "D-" for how it deals with childhood trauma. The report contends that children who experience traumatic problems such as abuse, neglect and witnessing violence at home can suffer serious long-term consequences, including health...

Drs.   Vincent Felitti and John Preston will do a presentation about ACEs from 1-5 pm, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, at Kaiser Center Auditorium, 300 Lakeside Drive, 2nd floor, in Oakland, CA. The course is sponsored by the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Mental Health Training Program. This is the course description: [The workshop organizers say that this workshop is not limited to licensed professionals, but anyone who is interested. Seats are limited, and...

SAN FRANCISCO – As the days get shorter, first grade teacher Esmeralda Jimnez watches the dimming afternoon sky outside her classroom window the way her pupils watch the clock at dismissal time. The studio apartment Jimnez rents for $1,783 a month, or 43 percent of her salary, is located in one of San Francisco’s sketchiest neighborhoods. Getting home involves running a gauntlet of feces-strewn sidewalks, popping crack pipes, discarded needles and menacing comments — daily...

SACRAMENTO – California would spend more than $2 billion on permanent housing to help the nation’s largest homeless population, under a proposal outlined by state senators on Monday. The housing bond would be enough to construct more than 10,000 housing units when it’s combined with other federal and local money, estimated Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles. The bond would be repaid with money from Proposition 63, the 2004 ballot measure that added a 1...

Since her nomination for the Visionary of the Year award in 2015, pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris has remained steadfast in her goal to broaden the conversation about the link between childhood trauma and health. In a world where many still believe mental and behavioral health is disconnected from physical health, Burke-Harris’ continues to make a compelling case for how the two are synchronous.  “The definition of trauma is changing. Trauma used to be mental and behavioral...

...The governor’s Department of Finance is charged with calculating the state savings from Proposition 47. The governor will likely provide an initial estimate of the savings for the current budget year as part of his proposed budget, with a final calculation due by July 31. The independent, nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office has already weighed in, projecting annual state savings in the range of $100 million to $200 million, but the governor will have the last word on the...

Watch this CNN video  with an update about the trauma informed schools lawsuit with the Compton Unified School District. Re-posted from Los Angeles County ACEs Connection Group from LA Trauma-Informed Task Force member,  K-Rahn Vallatine, Live Above The Hype.

This post has links to a quick welcome tour through ACEsConnection, a link to a How-To Directory where you can find easy steps to post a blog and many other cools things, a link to FAQs about ACEs Science 101, and an overview of the ACEs Connection Network, which includes ACEsConnection.com and our sister news site for the general public, ACEsTooHigh.com.

Hi all- With the beautiful new changes to our site, please take a moment to review the updated "How-Tos" below . If you can't find what you need or are having issues with the site please let me know. ( Gail ) JOIN How-To: Join ACEs Connection How-To: Join ACEs Connection Groups INVITE How-To: Invite Others to Join ACEs Connection How-To: Invite Others to Join an ACEs Connection Group SIGN IN & UPDATE PROFILE How-To: Sign In to ACEs Connection How-To: Update Your...